The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-05-14
APLAN PREVENT POISONING.

An Invention to Which the Attention
of Ingenious Americans Is Forci-
bly, Called.
If some of the thousands of Ameri-
can inventors who are wearing out the
rray matter in their heads and wasting
their lives in fruitless struggle with
the car coupler problem and the patent
switch devise, would turn their atten-
ton to certain practical need OF the
retail druggist they might win fortunes
if not fame. The druggist needs some
sort of sure and sharp preventive
against the careless use of poison in
his prescription department. Fatal
mistakes don't often occur, it is true.
But so long as there is no safeguard
against mistakes save the carcfulness
of a sleepy drug clerk, druggists don't
have very happy time OF it. The
most experienced compounder of pre-
scriptons in the world is liable to take
down the wrong bottle sometimes. To
impress upon their prescription clerks
the fact that they are handling poisons
druggists have resorted to good
many devices. A druggist on upper
Broadway, who does large business,
keeps all his poisons on separate
shelf behind a glass slide that has TO
be opened in peculiar manner.
Others have curiously-shaped bottles
for deadly compounds. A common
trick is to have the labels on the bot
ties printed in strange and startling
way, so they may be sure to attract
the attention of anyone who handles
them.
The futility of such schemes, which,
after all, leave some loophole for hui
man carelessness, was shown by recent
experience of the aforementioned drug
gist. His store had been under
going spring cleaning during
the day. Just after aman who had
rung the clerk up at 2o'clock
in the morning to get pre-
scription filled had gone out. the hor-
rified clerk discovered that someon c
had transposed the oxalic acid and SIR
up simplex bottles. The clerk knew
the mans name, but not his address.
There were sixteen Charles Hermans
in the directory, any one of whom
might be the man with the fatal dose.
The clerk had some sense left in spite
of his excitement and after calling in
two or three policemen and as many
messenger BOYS, managed to run down
the right Charles Herman before he
had tasted the contents of the bottle.
There are more gray hairs in the
clerks head now than there were a
week ago, and several Charles Her
mans had unnecessary visions of arrest
for unknown malefactions.
The most ingenious arrangement
thus far devised is to be seen in the dis
pensary of German druggist on Third
avenue. All the poison bottles are
made with metal bands to which little
chains are attached. The chains run
down behind the prescription desk. and
are fastened to an automatic bell.
Taking the bottle from tho shelf pulls
the chain up and rings the bell. The
proprietor thinks that no matter how
fast asleep his clerk may be the bell
will waken him in an instant 1t is an
expensive arrangement. however, and
not altogether sure. When an inventor
hits upon a scheme that will work to
absolute certainty even when the clerk
has been out all night to the Deutsches
Saengerbund and is as sound asleep as
log he will have solved the most per.
picking problem in pharmaceutical
practice. -Ney York Mad and Express.
In Mexico some Of the doctors keep lamp